Bride Bon Voyage
he Our Wedding Story contest was created to give all 417-land grooms- and brides-to-be a chance to have their wedding featured in 417 Bride. Nearly 30 couples decided to take a chance, and a team of judges narrowed the list to five finalists. Next we let you all vote for your favorite, and Bethany LaCavera and Brandon Dhondt won the contest.
We requested monetary gifts at the wedding so we could go on a great honeymoon and purchase a living room set. People followed our requests, and it allowed us to have the perfect honeymoon! Over the course of three whole weeks we fit in a lot of exciting events, saw tons of beautiful scenery and had a wonderful time together.
Our trip spanned several thousand miles by way of planes, boats and automobiles. It started off with a long flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, which was our starting point for the weeklong cruise that took us around the Hawaiian Islands. We both share a love for cruises, so it only seemed right to take a cruise on our honeymoon. While enjoying the great amenities of the ship, we made stops in Maui, Kauai, the Big Island and Oahu, each which proved to be unique from the others.
On Maui we enjoyed a hike through the rain forest and refreshing dips in a few different waterfall pools. We also went on a submarine tour that took us 120 feet below the surface to view a sunken ship and a lot of marine life.
The Big Island left us with memories of snorkeling in some of the world’s most beautiful waters, and some of the most interesting sites we have ever seen. We took an excursion that lead us across old lava fields and brought us to the edges of lava cliffs where lava met the ocean. On Kauai we experience a luau and show, which included a whole roasted pig! The cruise ended on Oahu, where we enjoyed two days. We explored the whole island, swam at the beaches, went parasailng and experienced Pearl Harbor memorials and the U.S.S. Missouri.
Next we flew to Kauai for a week. Here we kayaked 2.5 miles to hike through the forest to Secret Falls, where we enjoyed a swim before hiking and kayaking back. We flew ultralights over the island at sunrise, and we got extremely close to the Napali coast, which you can't reach by car. We took a helicopter ride over the whole island, and we got to see the waterfall from Jurassic Park, which is only accessible from the air. We had the best pizza ever on a blanket on a deserted beach at sunset. We shared a beautiful sunrise on our balcony overlooking the ocean. We drove up the mountain ranges and drove to every possible place on the island. We saw almost every major waterfall, and even hiked to ones few people knew about. We played in the ocean waves, and feasted on many of the sweetest pineapples we have ever tasted.
After that amazing week we flew to Miami to set sail on a four-day cruise of the Bahamas. In Nassau we went on sea horses—personal submarine/scooter things where your head stays dry but you’re in 15 feet of water. It was amazing to see the coral and marine life. Then we went to a private island, CocoCay, where we kayaked, swam and enjoyed a bunch of food. This was also Brandon's birthday, so we had cake and singing at dinner and a personal party in our room (which included chocolate-covered strawberries). While in Key West we took a ghost tour, and we learned why the locals call it Key Weird (which included stories about marrying corpses to dolls that are actually declared to have all human rights!) After this we got off the cruise ship and flew home with the best memories we could of ever hoped for!
Bethany Dhondt
